If you spend any time in your kitchen — whether you love it or not — you know that what surrounds you matters. The dish towel hanging by the sink. The apron on the hook by the door. The little cloth you reach for without thinking, dozens of times a day. These small details shape how a space feels, even when you barely notice them.
I've been making watercolor kitchen linens for a few years now — printed tea towels, aprons, Swedish dishcloths — and the question I get most often is some version of why. Why kitchen textiles specifically? Why not paper goods or notebooks, like so many other artists?
The honest answer starts with my mother's sewing machine, a love of fabric that never really left me, and a quiet realization I had one evening while standing at my kitchen counter, dreading dinner. Again.
It Started Long Before Watercolor
When I was six years old, I started using my mom's sewing machine.
I don't know exactly what drew me to it — the mechanical rhythm of it, maybe, or the way a flat piece of fabric could turn into something entirely new. I started small: doll clothes, little tote bags, anything I could piece together with whatever fabric scraps I could find.
That early love never really left. I grew up dreaming of becoming a fashion designer, and I went on to major in Clothing & Textiles in college. What happened after graduation is honestly a whole other story — one I'll save for another day — but the short version is that the path wound through many different chapters before landing me here: a watercolor artist who loves to paint and place the artwork on things that delight us everyday.
The love for fabric, though? That part stayed with me through all of it.
It's part of why, when I started building my product line, I kept finding myself drawn back to textiles. There's something about the weight of a well-made kitchen towel, the feel of a cotton apron, the texture of a Swedish dishcloth that just resonates with me in a way that paper doesn't. (Don't get me wrong - I love paper products too, but texttiles just feel special to me.) I wanted to put my artwork somewhere it would actually be used — touched, seen, and reached for every single day.
Here's the Part That Usually Surprises People
I don't love cooking.
I know — it sounds a little ironic coming from someone who makes kitchen linens. But here's the honest truth: meal prep leaves me feeling drained. And yet, as the main cook in my home, I'm in the kitchen two to three times a day whether like it or not.
A few years ago, I started really sitting with that. If I'm going to spend that much time in one room, why not make it a room I actually enjoy being in?
The answer came pretty naturally: bring in what I love. Color. Brushstrokes. Flowers in full bloom. The same elements I paint in my studio every day — but woven into the space where I spend so much of my time.
I started wearing my aprons while I cooked. I hung my printed tea towels where I'd see them while washing dishes. I wiped up everyday messes with a Swedish dishcloth covered in something I actually liked looking at. And slowly, something shifted. The kitchen started to feel like mine — not just a functional room I passed through, but a space with a little warmth in it.
The routine didn't change. But the way I felt during it did.
Why Kitchen Linens Make Everyday Moments Feel Different
Once I started noticing how much a few beautiful pieces changed my own experience in the kitchen, I started thinking about everyone I knew who felt the same way.
Printed tea towels are one of those objects that work in almost any kitchen. Hang one from an oven handle. Drape it over a towel rack. Some people even frame them as kitchen wall art. They're functional and personal at the same time — the kind of everyday object you see constantly and actually feel something about.
That's why they've become one of my most-requested items as a hostess or Mother's day gift. Thoughtful without being too precious, practical without being boring.
My aprons follow the same philosophy: pretty enough to feel intentional, sturdy enough to actually do the job. And my Swedish dishcloths — which replace paper towels and last for months — bring that same idea of beauty-meets-function into the most ordinary kitchen task there is.
Kitchen textiles don't ask you to renovate anything or change the way you cook. They just make the space feel a little more like you.
What's Available Right Now
My brand-new butterfly tea towel design has been moving quickly. A few are still available, but I honestly don't know how much longer that will be true. Once they're gone, it may be a little while before I can print the next batch.
The full kitchen linen collection — tea towels, aprons, and Swedish dishcloths — is available here.
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Warmly,
Jean